City of Zurich pension fund

What City of Zurich pension fund does

The Pensionskasse Stadt Zürich (PKZH), commonly branded as the City of Zurich pension fund, is a Swiss public sector defined benefit pension fund established for employees of the City of Zurich. It administers retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for approximately 41,000 insured persons and disburses pensions to roughly 21,000 beneficiaries. Headquartered in Zurich, PKZH is wholly owned by the municipal government (Stadt Zürich) and operates under Swiss pension law as a cooperative public pension institution.

PKZH's core offering is the PKZH Pensionskasse product, a defined benefit scheme financed through employer and employee contributions that exceed statutory BVG/LPP minimum Altersgutschriften. The fund manages CHF 24.72 billion in assets under management with a 126.2% funding ratio and credited 4.2% interest on retirement savings in the most recent reporting period, while delivering a 5.25% investment return. The fund has reported continuous surplus funding (Überdeckung) for over 30 years and has credited interest above the statutory minimum for over 20 years. An Online-Services module provides digital self-service account management, complemented by phone, email, and in-person service channels that bypass employer HR intermediaries.

PKZH's revenue model is contribution-driven rather than commercial, with ongoing inflows from mandatory employer and employee contributions and investment returns generated on the accumulated asset pool. The fund generates no product or service fees from beneficiaries; contribution rates and interest crediting are governed by Swiss pension law and fund regulations. On the asset management side, PKZH has integrated sustainability considerations for over 20 years, formalized a customized climate strategy with a CO2 reduction target in 2019, and operates exclusion policies covering controversial weapons and coal-exposed issuers, supported by two specialized external sustainability advisor mandates. The go-to-market is structurally defined by the City of Zurich employment relationship, with no discretionary commercial customer acquisition.

Name

City of Zurich pension fund

Legal name

Pensionskasse Stadt Zürich

Website

https://pkzh.ch

Company type

Public

Founded year

1913

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Public sector defined benefit pension fund administering retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for approximately 41,000 insured City of Zurich employees and 21,000 pension beneficiaries, managing CHF 24.72 billion in assets under a statutorily protected monopoly.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Pension contributions: PKZH operates as a defined benefit pension fund financed through employer and employee contributions. Contributions exceed statutory minimum requirements, and the fund generates returns through diversified investment of accumulated assets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

PKZH is a public defined benefit pension fund for City of Zurich employees, providing retirement savings accumulation, survivor benefits, and disability coverage to approximately 41,000 insured persons and 21,000 pension beneficiaries. The fund is financed through employer and employee contributions that exceed statutory minimum requirements and generates returns through diversified investment of accumulated assets, supported by an integrated sustainability strategy.

Product overview

PKZH (Pensionskasse Stadt Zürich) operates as a unified pension fund providing retirement, survivor, and disability benefits to approximately 41,000 insured employees and 21,000 beneficiaries of the City of Zurich. The offering consists of the core PKZH Pensionskasse as the primary product, supplemented by Online-Services for digital account management and a Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie module for sustainable asset management. The fund emphasizes financial security, above-legal contribution rates, and consistently high interest on retirement savings for over 30 years of surplus coverage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PKZH Pensionskasse (Pension Fund)

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.2% interest rate on retirement savings (exceeds statutory minimum)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Specialized sustainability advisors (unnamed)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe investment committee has commissioned two unnamed advisors specializing in sustainability questions to support engagement activities. These advisors work alongside PKZH's internal investment team to implement the fund's sustainability strategy and engagement with portfolio companies.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• PUBLICA: The Swiss federal staff pension fund, providing mandatory BVG/LOB coverage to employees of the federal administration and affiliated organizations. Directly comparable to PKZH as a large Swiss public-sector pension fund operating under the same legal framework with similar defined-benefit obligations and member base scale.
• Aargauische Pensionskasse (APK): Statutory pension fund for cantonal and affiliated employees of Aargau. Directly comparable Swiss public-sector pension fund with similar defined-benefit structure, sustainability initiatives, and member-base economics.
• Caisse de pensions de l'État de Vaud (CPEV): Public pension fund serving Vaud cantonal employees in French-speaking Switzerland. Comparable defined-benefit public pension fund under Swiss federal pension law with similar investment, funding-ratio, and governance profiles.
• BVK Personalvorsorge des Kantons Zürich: The cantonal Zurich pension fund covering employees of canton-level entities — the direct 'big sibling' to PKZH's municipal-city coverage within the same Zurich region. Highly comparable in regulatory regime, product structure, and Swiss public-pension governance model.
• Pensionskasse Stadt Bern: Municipal pension fund for City of Bern employees — the closest functional analog to PKZH in Switzerland. Highly comparable in mandate, product structure, and governance, differing primarily by host municipality.
• Pensionskasse Basel-Stadt: Statutory pension fund for employees of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, operating under the same Swiss BVG framework as PKZH. Comparable in mandate, governance, and product offering; differs only by geography and sponsoring employer.
• Pensionskasse SBB: Pension fund for employees of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), operating as a federally-affiliated occupational pension fund. Comparable in scale, regulatory treatment under BVG, and member/beneficiary structure to PKZH.

Emerging players

• Caisse de pension du CERN: International public-sector pension fund for CERN employees operating under Swiss oversight. Comparable in defined-benefit structure and Swiss regulatory treatment, though smaller in scale and serving an intergovernmental rather than municipal employer.

Others

• Swiss Life Asset Managers: Large Swiss insurance-based asset manager with significant occupational pension fund mandates. Comparable as a competitor for institutional mandates and as a benchmark for Swiss pension investment performance and sustainability practices.
• Pax Asset Management: Swiss pension insurance and asset management provider serving occupational pension funds. Comparable as an ecosystem participant in the Swiss pension landscape that PKZH interacts with as a peer fund manager and potential service counterparty.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about City of Zurich pension fund